There is nothing better than a long weekend. And even these days, when I often get to 3PM before I have to think about what day it is, I love that Friday afternoon feeling of the whole weekend ahead of you. Perhaps even more so now that I’m spending my days at home with Hudson — weekends mean dad’s around too, which makes everything about a thousand times more fun and of course, much easier.
Labor Day ’16 was quite different than any other LDW’s in recent memory. No boozy brunches, no Cubs games, no pool days. But it was every bit as good, if not better. This was a beautiful summer in Chicago, but after feeling unbearably hot for the last 4 months of my life, I am more than ready to move on to fall. (Definitely thought that would end once I had the baby… NOPE! Thanks hormones.) So the breezy, mid-70’s temperatures were just the icing on the cake.
On Friday, Hudson and I headed out for an early morning walk. We stopped for a Starbucks (and I resisted ordering a pumpkin spice latte… but now it’s game on!) and headed out to do a short walk to Olive Park and back.
Truthfully, the walk was not exactly what I’d call pleasant. Huds had his first complete meltdown in “public,” even though there was hardly anyone around and we were outside, so his pitiful little baby wails didn’t make much of an impact. As far as managing first flip-outs go, I got off pretty easy. Still — so stressful to hear your baby screaming when you’re away from the comforts of home!
But hey, I got that awesome shot of him with the skyline, and I ripped the bandaid off in terms of managing a screaming baby in front of others who were SURELY judging me. Just kidding. There were only two other couples out, and they both seemed to find it endearing and gave me big encouraging smiles.
I’m happy to report that the rest of the weekend was a definite upswing from there.
On Saturday, I packed up my pump, kissed my boys, and headed out for a Mom’s Day Out. I had a VERY overdue hair appointment in the afternoon, and with Jason’s encouragement I headed out early to enjoy some time solo to recharge. And it was glorious.
Not exactly uncomplicated, thanks to the pump thing, but I discovered that all of the big Chicago department stores have really nice women’s lounges — basically breastfeeding or pumping rooms. So I headed to the 900 North Michigan mall for a quiet, leisurely lunch at a cafe on the top floor, then picked up a stroller organizer at Galt Baby and new sunglasses from Bloomingdale’s. After a quick session in one of Bloomingdale’s women lounges (lovely, by the way! Caught up on Instagram stories in a comfy armchair for 20 minutes.) I was off to get my hair done. Going to a new salon is always a little nerve wracking but I ended up love, love, loving the setting, my stylist, Jenna, and most importantly, the result. I feel like a coooooool mom! (If you didn’t get that reference, see: Mean Girls.)
I’m quickly learning that true breaks in this whole mom life thing are rare, but after six hours to myself, I felt like a new person. With great hair. And I was so, so excited to get home to my little family.
Jason’s a grill whiz, and decided to cook not one but TWO glorious feasts over the weekend. Earlier in the week, we were reminiscing about an amazing trip to Europe we took with friends this time three years ago. So on Saturday I returned home to Greek night, complete with a Greek wine and cheese pairing to start, grilled chicken with two different dipping sauces, and a huge Greek salad. Heaven.
His second feat was on Sunday for Italian night, featuring goat cheese bruschetta and charred sausage and peppers with red sauce. I was so impressed by both nights dinners and my mouth is watering just thinking about all of that great food!
We also managed to sneak in a few outings with the babe. On Sunday afternoon, we headed to Lizzie McNeill’s, a divey Irish pub in our neighborhood with a great outdoor patio on the river. J and I enjoyed a few drinks and Hudson was a total angel, sitting on my lap like a big boy and checking out the sights and sounds.
And on Monday, we met friends for a late lunch at D4. Hudson was so good again – snoozed most of the time then just chilled out on my lap, despite a really hot day. Mommy was definitely the bigger whiner out of the two of us on that complaint.
One of these days, we’ll have to leave our Streeterville bubble — and I’m definitely encouraged by Hudson’s angelic behavior this weekend! But until then, we have so many things to do within a few blocks. Yet another reason I don’t understand why anyone questions how awesome it can be to have a baby in the city.
Monday night, Hudson crashed early enough for us to watch MULTIPLE episodes of The Night Of. (Since then we haven’t gotten through one straight without stopping to attend to our little dude, but I’m taking what I can get!) We ripped through a ridiculous amount of series while I was pregnant, and it was such a nice, nostalgic feeling to look at Jason and say: “sooooo… one more, right?!” even though we both knew we should be sleeping while we could. So basically, the perfect end to a great holiday weekend.
And now, we’re ready for you, fall!